Hot Stove Muckraking?
In a possible case of creating news rather than reporting it, MSNBC ran an AP story yesterday headlined “Rolen, La Russa haven’t talked since playoff tiff.” We’re not sure how this is news, any more than “Pip, LaRussa haven’t talked ever.” The report doesn’t offer any substantive information, other than a few quotes from the subjects, including this terribly inflammatory quote from Rolen: “We haven’t talked, we haven’t spoken. I went home and we went about our lives.” It gets worse, with LaRussa getting in a dig that is sure to blow the lid off this simmering pot of controversy: “I love Scott Rolen.”

Pitchers and catchers report in 27 days, and not a moment too soon, if yellow journalism like this is any indication of the dearth of baseball news.

Naysaying Neyer
In his chat earlier this week, SABRen Rob Neyer was typically blase in his outlook on the Cardinals:

Dave (IL): What are your thoughts on the Cardinals signing Mulder? Is he worth the risk, because I thought he has had hip issues to go along with shoulder issues?

SportsNation Rob Neyer: (12:26 PM ET ) I thought they committed too much money to a pitcher who hasn’t been healthy since 2005 or outstanding since 2003. But if he can make 30 starts with a 4.25 ERA, it’s not a bad deal.

Okay, fair enough. We had much the same reaction. But we think Neyer’s selling the team short in his response to “Tom”:

Tom, St. Louis MO: Last year almost everyone picked the Cardinals to win the NL Central. They stumble to the finish with 83 wins and go on to win the World Series. Now everyone thinks the NL Central is up for grabs when they have pretty much the same team as before. What gives?

SportsNation Rob Neyer: (12:39 PM ET ) Let’s forget the World Series for a moment, because that was something of a fluke. I think the problem is that the Cardinals really weren’t very good last season, and have not apparently improved this winter. But yes, I suppose when we crunch all the numbers this spring the Cards will come out slighly [sic] ahead of the second-best team in the division.

We agree that baseball’s playoffs structure is abhorrent in its fluke-favoring, and that the Cardinals were not the best team in either league last year. But judging by the projection systems, St. Louis has almost definitely improved, despite making few transactions. And the “best of the losers” picture that Neyer paints of the NL Central doesn’t square with reality, in which the Brewers and Cubs, in addition to the Cardinals, have improved.

Cardinal legends among top HWSAB
Dave Studeman has another engaging article, this time on Historical Win Shares Above Bench. Cardinal HOFers Stan Musial (10), Rogers Hornsby (12) and the Big Cat, Johnny Mize (40) placed among Studes’s top 40 list. We expect to see The Great Pujols, 7th all-time in Adjusted OPS+, on this list someday with the other legendary Cardinals.

Former Cardinal Third Basemen, I
Remember former Cardinal third-sacker Fernando Tatis? Well, he lost his lawsuit. No, he wasn’t being sued — he was the one doing the suing. Baseball Crank has more:

Professional athletes make tons of money, travel frequently, and are often uneducated, financially unsophisticated, and/or marginally literate in English. Unfortunately, that combination makes them easy targets for ripoffs and scams.

But they still have an obligation to read their own bank statements to see if someone is stealing their money, as the Sixth Circuit affirmed today in a decision dismissing a lawsuit by Fernando Tatis against his bank based on embezzlement by a bank employee an employee of Tatis.

This seems like a ridiculous ruling against the victim. Indeed, things have only gone downhill for Tatis since his amazing feat of two grand slams in the same inning, which remains the second-most improbable event next to the same pitcher allowing two grand slams to the same player in the same inning.

Former Cardinal Third Basemen, II
While we’re on the subject, another erstwhile Cardinal third baseman is in the news. Or at least in the blogs. Bad Kermit, of Fire Lou Piniella!, lists Todd Zeile as his 123th (of 126) worst all-time Cub. No, it’s not really news, but it is informative in that it sheds some light on the state of Cubdom. The Northsiders have been the biggest winners so far this offseason, according to Scott Miller, and the only thing Cub bloggers have to write about is all of their stinky players.

If Bad Kermit keeps posting his hated Cubbies at a rate of one a day, he’ll conclude this miserable series on May 20, which sounds like the right time to stop. After all, he’ll be able to begin a series on the Cubs’ disappointing 2007 season without missing a beat.

Class act
Say what you will about President Bush; there’s no denying his sense of humor — and class. ESPN has an inspiring anecdote from the Cardinals’ recent visit to the White House:

The biggest applause, though, came when Bush introduced an injured Marine, Lance Cpl. Chad Watson. Bush met him at Walter Reed Army Medical Center recently and noticed the soldier was wearing a Cardinals hat. So he invited him to the ceremony.

“You never know where you’re going to find a St. Louis Cardinal fan,” Bush said.

Just ask Canseco
“Being a power pitcher, there’s a lot of work to do behind the scene.” — Roger Clemens

One more reason not to cheer for the Nats
Hall-of-Famer Don Sutton to provide color commentary on Nationals telecasts beginning in 2007 — MLB.com headline

Bottom stories of the day

• Nebraska leg of Royals Caravan ends — MLB.com headline
• Bonds: McGwire and Rose belong in the Hall of Fame — Contra Costa Times headline

Why didn’t we think of this?
We’ve been a fan of The Greatest Fielding First Baseman of All-Time, Keith Hernandez, since we first considered ourselves a fan of baseball. Needless to say, we’ve been rooting for his admission to the Hall of Fame lo these many years since his untimely retirement after the 1990 season (while Hernandez’s drug use is well-known, we’re pretty sure his drugs of choice weren’t performance-enhancers). And we’re not the only one — undaunted by the fact that Mex has fallen off the BBWAA eligibility list, Quest for Keith still carries on the campaign for his induction, in a “Chuck Norris Facts” kind-of-way. Among our favorites:

• Reason #20: Keith Hernandez has a tattoo of a mustache under his mustache.
• Reason #14: Keith Hernandez had 129 game-winning RBIs in his career, three of which, came while sitting in the dugout.
• Reason #8: Keith Hernandez’s mustache once stole second, but was called out because Keith Hernandez was still on first.

As much as we love and appreciate stats — like Hernandez’s all-time-best 174 Runs Above Average — they don’t tell the whole story. Take Reason #18, for example: Keith Hernandez once caught a ball in foul territory even though it landed in upper deck.

After all, he is Keith Hernandez.

This entry was posted by Pip on Friday, January 19th, 2007 at 2:57 pm and is filed under around the horn. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.